Politics of Thursday, 9 July 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

Voters registration: Our supporters will fight back if NPP thugs harm them –Afriyie-Ankrah warns

Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah is NDC Director of Elections play videoElvis Afriyie-Ankrah is NDC Director of Elections

Director of Elections of the National Democratic Congress, Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, has rallied party supporters to defend themselves at registration centres when their lives are threatened.

Speaking at the party’s sixth weekly press briefing on Wednesday, July 8, 2020, the former Sports Minister presented video evidence of what he claimed to be attacks on NDC members at the hands of organised NPP thugs in the ongoing voters registration exercise.

“We are very law-abiding people; we will not attack anybody. So far, we have cautioned our people to collaborate and cooperate with the security agencies,” he said during the press briefing at the party headquarters at Adabraka in Accra.

He then proceeded to add a note of caution: “We are peace-loving people. We want to cooperate and collaborate with the police. They should deal with these incidents. If these incidents continue, as long as we ask our people to go and register, if they continue, we will tell them to defend themselves.”

He also called on the police to rise up to their duty of enforcing the rule of law and protecting citizens’ rights during the on-going voter registration exercise or be faced with a situation where NDC members are forced to defend themselves.

Afriyie-Ankrah said the armed thugs, who he claimed are affiliated to the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) have targeted registration centres in NDC strongholds and have been terrorising registrants.

He urged the NPP to honour its pledge to ban vigilantism and stop sending the armed thugs to intimidate and harm NDC supporters at registration centres.